|
1991
This is the story about a six months trip through North America from Florida to Puerto Rico and back to Florida again and all along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Mexico, Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala and further on to the Pacific with a detour to the Popocatepetl and up north to California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Oregon.
It is January 1991, I just have managed to finish university after almost 7 years (it took me a bit longer than expected due to several extended trips through Europe and Morocco and the time necessary to work for the money needed for these trips), the torn ligaments in my right knee have healed and the first Bush president has just started a war in Iraq.
Due to that war the American consulate was closed which made things a bit easier for me as I could demand the visa necessary to enter the US for the 6 months trip with a letter instead of having to go to the consulate and answer insisting questions about why I wanted to enter the States and how much money I had and if it would be enough for a six month stay in Godīs Own Country. The money question could have become crucial as I was pretty broke due to a broken engine in my van and a general emptiness on my bank account (for the last exams I had to spend time learning and couldnīt work that much).
But this way I just received my visa a few weeks later by post and everything was fine. My travel buddy Christian was already in the US and I could join him now.
Thursday February 6th I arrived at the airport in Munich with a backpack and two boardbags, each loaded with windsurfing equipment and weighting 30 kilos what happened to be the maximum baggage limit that was allowed to be taken on the plane. I managed to convince the lady at the counter to check this in as kayaks which made it significantly cheaper.
The next hurdle was the immigration office in Chicago. I was a bit nervous when I approached that but I had put on my best clothes and passed it without problems. For the connecting flight to Miami I was on the waiting list but managed to get on the flight and arrived in Florida late at night. Christian and a friend who would join us for some time on the Puerto Rican part of the trip picked me up at the airport and we drove to the beach where we rolled out our sleeping bags and spent the night.
continue >>>
|
